AP Week 8: Cincinnati & Tulane Ranked, UCF Receives Votes
Don’t look now but the American Athletic Conference is gaining steam with the Associated Press voters.
The Cincinnati Bearcats and Tulane Green Wave made the AP Top 25–at No. 21 and No. 25–while the UCF Knights received the third most votes just outside the rankings with 13.
So far in 2022, the Bearcats are 5-1 after dropping their first contest, a road game at Arkansas, 31-24. The last five games have seen Cincinnati win by an average score of 41 to 19.2.
Leading the way would be quarterback Ben Bryant, as he’s completing 65.9% of his attempts, passing for 1,561 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Bearcats have a really good defense as well.
With Ivan Pace being a force, the Bearcats are No. 19 in total defense by allowing just 313.2 yards per contest. Pace has 63 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and six sacks already this season.
Cincinnati goes on the road to play SMU (Oct. 22) next.
For Tulane, their 5-1 start to the season includes a 17-10 win over now No. 17 Kansas State on the road. That’s the best win for any AAC team so far this season. Quarterback Michael Pratt has been the ringleader of the Green Wave offense.
He’s completing 67.3% of his passes, while accounting for 1,560 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Defensively, it’s been a really good overall unit.
The Tulane defense allows only 299.1 yards per game, placing it No. 17 in the land. The best player of the group should probably be safety Macon Clark. He’s a well-rounded talent with 34 tackles, five tackles for loss, two interceptions, two pass breakups, and a fumble recovery.
Next game for Tulane will be Memphis (Oct. 22).
For the Knights, it’s been a team that’s caught fire. They have won four in a row and took apart their last two opponents, SMU and Temple, by a two-game total score of 111-32.
The offensive playmakers are impressive, led by quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. He’s now completing 63.7% of his passes, thrown for 1,516 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also ran for 468 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 5.4 yards per tote.
The defense shows balance from front to back, and does its best work when the opponent reaches the red zone. UCF is the No. 1 red zone defense by allowing 52.4% of opponents' trips inside the 20 to end up with points, with only five touchdowns.
There could be several different defensive players a person singles out for the Knights, with linebacker Jason Johnson leading the team in tackles with 50, while also having two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.
UCF travels to East Carolina (Oct. 22) for the seventh game of the season.
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